Gospel According to The Anti-Sycophant

While the World Burns (We're Arguing About the Spelling)

Hear ye, Hear ye

Ferocity and anti-sycophancy

have been gifted to me

to speak freely

on what I see

but not a plea

-

everything everywhere

so damn maddening—

from Gaza and Ukraine,

to those we never hear about

Man is the apex predator

of its own damn extinction

-

---

-

Rot The Small Stuff (Hurt People Hurt People)

Even without the grand scale of hate,

we see microcosmic mirrors

on intimate levels

Peace and love

are laughed at,

as some kinda hoaky Jerry Garcia bullshit

But look at the alternative

-

Hate begets fear and self-loathing,

not just in Las Vegas,

but everywhere

If you're constantly looking

for the worst in everyone,

you'll never see the good

“Death to the IDF” and “Hate for Hamas” won’t fix a damn thing.

Killing is killing.

Death

is

death.

Are we really this numb—this blind—

we think blood will wash blood away?

If you support one side,

you're not noble,

if you're supporting the other,

you're not focused on change.

-

Change

-

ah yes, the harbinger of death

for some hardcore stuck-in-their-ways

Change is something

so many fear

more than fear itself

Anything different,

standing out

from the crowd of followers,

is locked away, stamped out,

or met with side-eye glances

and under-breath micro-aggressions—

quiet bigotry dressed up as decency.

-

---

-

Gaslit, Fog, and Fact Police

That's right,

you're all fucked in the head

All trying to be

the most righteously right

Generation of angry, misguided people

looking to blame

someone

-

Someone may have made an error

handing me this platform,

but while I have five minutes.

I will use it

Fireproof suit on? Good—

I'll carry on

-

meanwhile, elsewhere...

I'm sorry—

the couple kissing on the bus

doesn't match

the perfect couple in your mind

I'm sorry—

that this all needs to be said,

to be actually said,

that I had to actually

write this down and try

and eloquently put into

words and phrases just

how messed up the world is right now

-

---

I want to bash heads together,

scream into the halls of power,

shatter the smug grins of bigots.

But no—not kill. That’s their logic.

Killing them makes us them.

That’s the trap. Always has been.

-

---

-

Who's The Most Human?

That "homeless junkie bastard"

wasn't always that way

That "hooker paying for groceries and crack"

was once a young girl

with hope in her heart

We judgee—

like talent show buzzers,

quick to slap Xs

before the first note—

too busy, too self-centred

to see the fucking obvious.

-

no need for a think tank

the most basic solution

to most of the world's problems

is fucking caring

About yourself and others.

About the environment.

Kindness, love,

and a self-sacrificing spirit

would make the world a better place

in a short fucking time.

-

"Put a skirt on love,"

say the pervs

gushing over

the flesh of femmes,

when they're taken

by force

robbed of dignity.

We’re told not to say rape or murder—

It's off-brand.

Unshareable.

Can't monetise the truth.

Don't use

Grapes and unalive

are on-message words

we use to take away

the violence,

the hate,

from the perpetrators

of the violence and the hate

—Victimisation of victims

on a worldwide scale.

-

"She deserved it."

"He was asking for it."

"They're disgusting."

"He's a weirdo."

"I don't like your brown skin, slave."

"I don't like your yellow-hued skin, you warmongering commie bastard."

Stop basing your opinion of people

on skin colour, heritage,

ancestry, political alliances,

choice of life, marital and sexual partner.

-

Life's not a pissing contest

where "he who pisses the loudest, wins,

be them man, woman, child"

life is about living,

but we insist on

making it all about death

-

death waits for us,

true,

but why speed up the process?

-

---

-

Kindness or Kindness (Last Exit: Love)

I admire and respect

the fallen in wars and battles gone by—

we each have to choose our battles and wars

I take exception

to blind patriotic mentalities and sensibilities

when it's all about

putting yourself or your country

ahead or above others

freedom of speech, should be just that—freedom

that means, questioning

Everything

-

Question Benjamin Netanyahu,

Question Mahmoud Abbas,

Question Trump and his gaudy tower of stupid power

(Does Musk still get CCs and WhatsApp updates?)

Question Starmer and Badenoch

Question Putin

Question anyone with power

and always, always

Question those who say

"I'm not a bigot, just traditionalist with preferences,

not a 'phobe, just allergic to the idea of change,

not cruel, just brutally efficient with my opinions."

-

I know how you feel, unsure and uncertain

"All You Need is Love" feels like a lie, a smokescreen

But you're already

in the smokescreen of the century,

the smokescreen of our existence

broken hearts and broken minds

can't be fixed with broken promises by people

who crush resistance and take liberty with liberty for profit

wholesale bargain basement sale of freedom to the highest bidder

don't even think about stepping aside to help someone else in need.

-

But, that's what you should think,

that's what the goal is.

Kindness

Kindness

Kindness

Love.

-

We have enough food to feed the world.

Repeat that a few times and let it sink in, if it's news to you.

Poverty and food shortages,

should not exist.

But greed, power-hungry,

Fat cats in silk chairs,

mouths full of crumbs

they stole from starving hands

-

Remember Covid?

"We're all in this together."

from their mansions on top of the hill?

I'm not sure I can explain

Why humans insist on being

the worst on its planet;

but like The Boss said

"I guess there's just a meanness in this world".

-

Women and children gather around.

The oppressed and disenfranchised take a knee.

Nothing

and I mean nothing will ever change, the way we want, the way the world needs

unless

we band together,

The soldiers of the freedom to speak, to feel, to love

The defenders of life in all its forms, both beautiful and crooked

The marauders of kindness, spreading wit and whimsy, trust and faith

in humanity

-

I am not your prophet

I am not your saviour

I am an asshole

egotistical bastard

blunt enough to say

all that needs to be said

-

But kindness—

kindness, kindness, kindness,

love—

that's the real goal.

-

So, hear ye, hear ye,

I wish I could say sorry

if you're triggered, or butt-hurt

but I can't lie and grease the wheels

of sycophancy

--

I'm not sorry

Are you?

-

What are you going to do about it?

What happens if we don't do enough?

Spoiler alert - look out your window

*

Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: Poem. For ViM's June Prompt - Everyone Gets a Soapbox. Find out more by following the link.

If you're not offended. This song sums up a lot of this poem.

Here are some other things: